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Chapter 12: The Annoying Aftermath and an Awkward Affinity

The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of the aftermath.

~Starlight24

"No," I hissed, drawing the curtains again, gritting my teeth in annoyance. "Leave me alone, Dylan." I was pissed; my seething tone evident.

"Come on, Day!" he whined, throwing stones at my window sill, making me groan loudly. "I'll do anything to make you talk again," he whimpered like a three year old baby.

Of course I wasn't talking to that lying, cheating, backstabbing, pathetic excuse of a human being.
Dylan had been annoying me all morning and begging me to talk to him. He apparently missed having someone to piss the hell out of.

"Anything?" I asked, turning around. Willpower had never been my strong point. My lips twitched as I gave him the most evil smile ever.

"Forget it," he huffed, giving up as he saw my expression. Damn, was I that transparent?

"I totally wasn't going to make you run around the school in a tutu and my baby pink hair ribbons!" I called out as he drew his curtains, making him peek out and offer me a cheeky grin.

"Look, I'm sorry about Deeds," he began, and I grunted and put my hands on my hips with a 'you don't say' expression on my face. "But honestly it was a start, and I really tried to settle down. Turns out I really don't do love after all, and I am sorry that it had to be someone like Deirdre who had to be my test subject for this experiment." He then looked at me with a semi-hopeful expression on his face and I knew I would give in to whatever he wanted just because of that adorable expression.
"But can we still be friends?" he asked, genuinely and hopefully.

I couldn't help but crack a grin as the bad boy asked to be my friend. Why didn't I have a camera when I needed one? "Can you repeat that?" I asked, fishing for my phone as I turned on the video recorder. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and I chuckled.

"No way am I ruining my rep for you," he informed me. Ouch?

"Well then you can consider our friendship over," I lied, knowing fully well that I couldn't even go a day without that idiot's company.

"Fine," he grumbled. Wow, he must really want to talk to me to be able to risk his reputation and actually ask to be my friend. No one did that anymore. "Can you please be my friend again?" he asked with his bambi eyes, and I laughed and caught it. He rolled his eyes as I posted it on Onlinathon. Yep, Dylan's rep had just died. "Happy now?" he grumbled.

"You must really love me," I stated, pointing at the post.

"Were you not listening?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "I don't do love."

"Yeah, but you do obsession, and I am officially creeped out by how obsessed you are with me," I teased, and he stuck his tongue out at me and I laughed. Okay, we both knew that I couldn't last a second without Dylan's idiocy.

Unfortunately for me, Dylan's little video got him compliments and comments like: Aww so cute! Or: Dylan why'd you do a dare like that lol, which kind of sucked. Oh well.

"So we're... cool again, right?" he asked uncertainly. I laughed a hearty, genuine laugh and nodded vigorously. I really needed to learn how to not be so susceptible to my neighbor's charms.

He gave me a thumbs-up and closed his curtains as I trudged down the stairs, smiling at my dad who was leaning in his chair, glasses riding down his nose as he read the newspaper. "Hey," I sang, smiling at him. He frowned in response.

One itty-bitty detail I may have forgotten to mention was that my parents found out I'd had alcohol because of my mild headache and went ballistic. It wasn't even my fault! So I'd tried to convince them over and over again about how it'd been spiked and Jase beat the crap out of the guy who spiked it, and that made my parents scream at me for getting into 'bad company'. So I got the whole 'you have so much potential and you're wasting your life' lecture, and I think I fell asleep midway through their rambling so now they're outright pissed. They claim I've become disrespectful and undisciplined, which is so untrue! I'm so good at heart and such a responsible girl! Oh who am I kidding...?

"Did I ever tell you what an amazing dad you are?" I cooed, trying to suck up to my dad. He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"Too bad I can't say the same to my daughter," he grumbled. Yep, he was totally over it. Not.

"Daddykins," I smiled, pecking his forehead. He had the same skin tone as I did, and Mom's was paler. His and mine had this mild tan that looked quite good to be honest. I'm not trying to boast, but I'm not trying to be modest either. Whatever, forgive my randomness.
"How is work treating you?" I asked in a saccharine voice that was sickening to my own ears.

"It's treating me well, and at the way you've been paving your path I doubt you'll even get a job." Well that wasn't blunt at all.

"You weren't even at Deirdre's house for the night." My mother chimed in. I would have liked it better if she was screaming. Her voice was cold and icy.

"Yeah I was!" I lied indignantly, wondering how on earth she knew that.

"I called up Mrs. Lacey in the morning, because I was worried sick about you!" she hissed, still not screaming. I gulped, my fear palpable. But I refused to cave in and admit anything.

"Yeah, I left her house really early and went to Jase's place because I'd fallen down at the party and he had my glasses," I said, my hands on my hips. I was such a pathetic liar.

"Mrs. Lacey said you didn't even go to her house in the first place," Dad explained, his lips pursed.

"I did! I arrived really late, though!" I shrieked, trying to feign frustration.

"I have the inkling of a feeling that you crashed at Jase's house," Mom said, her lower lip quavering slightly. Oh my goodness, was she going to cry!?

"I didn't." I assured her, lying through my teeth.

Mom burst out crying and Dad placed a comforting arm around her shoulder as she shook silently in his tight grasp. I was shocked— I'd never seen my mom openly cry before. "I can't trust you anymore," was all she kept muttering under her breath. My throat tied itself into several knots.

"Your mother and I called up Mrs. Tackett, who told us that Jase carried your unconscious body to their house, where they kept you for the night," Dad's voice was getting higher, and I could feel hot tears of terror springing up to my eyes.

I looked down at my fuzzy winter home shoes. The floor had suddenly gotten ten times more interesting and my sack-like shoes were as wonderful as Cinderella's glass slippers.

"You're far too young!" said Mom, looking at me through her tear-filled eyes. This was when it hit me. My parents thought I'd lost my innocence.

"Oh my gods, Mom!" I said in exasperation. "That's... sick! I didn't do anything; I was completely and totally conked out!" I defended myself, feeling bile rush to my mouth in disgust.

"How can I even trust you?" she asked in defeat, wiping her tears in Dad's shirt. I felt like such a terrible person. Why hadn't I just told them the truth in the first place? It would've saved me from a hell of trouble and arguments.
Then she glanced at Dad, looking at him with her red, puffy eyes. "Moving here was a bad idea, Derek." She slumped into the chair, not saying anything as my heart beat wildly in my chest. "Day has become completely and totally spoilt. She's tipped over the fine line between successors and losers." That hit home, and I ran up to my room and slammed the door, crying into the soft sheets of my comforter and hugging my pillow.

I had never had a fight with my parents, except for little things that had tipped them off like the time I cut my hair and lied about that when I was four or the time I thought an anti-mosquito spray that specifically said 'not to be used around children under 13' was some sort of exotic perfume when I was six. Those had been petty in retrospect, and those were the biggest fights we'd ever had before this one.

"Why did I even go to the party?" I asked myself out loud, wiping my eyes furiously with one of my gazillion teddy bears on my bed.

Just then, the door rang but I stayed under my covers.

"Day," called Dad from downstairs. "A friend of yours is here!"

I sighed and walked downstairs, praying reverently that my swollen and puffy eyes weren't visible. My hair was damp in some places because my tears had leaked onto it. I plastered a fake smile and decided to greet whoever was at the door.

I groaned internally when I saw the smiling face in front of me; the cheerleader bimbo with her pearly whites leaning against the frame of my door.

I should have been glad she was wearing something, because the typical Cady move would be to show up stark naked wherever she went. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd done that before.

Her current clothes however, weren't much of a major improvement from nudity. She was wearing a tube-top that looked like a translucent shawl that had been wrapped across her torso and mini shorts that looked like a pair of underpants. Cady was the definition of 'scantily clad'.

Dad was looking at me with a weird expression, his face mildly contorted with disgust. He was really rethinking my social circles, I could tell.

"Hi!" she chirped, inviting herself into my house. I rolled my eyes and Dad offered me a sardonic grin. "Day babes, how's my fave sistah?" she laughed as we walked into my room. She was so fake she made plastic seem like a natural substance you would find growing on a tree.

"Hi Cady." I lacked her enthusiasm.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" she complained, pointing to her phone screen. I read a couple of comments on a picture she'd posted on Onlinathon, where she was receiving a lot of hate for kissing Dylan. "I mean," she continued. "That was such a hot picture I posted of myself and I didn't get a single like or compliment!" she whined. A typical Cady statement.

I think she'd forgotten the little argument we'd had the other day, but I hadn't. She'd snubbed me, and no one is allowed to snub Day June Winters. Okay, maybe Jase was a tad bit right about me having an ego... But he didn't need to know that.

"So basically, you were flat out drunk at the party and you decided to kiss Dylan." I told her. Being blunt was the only way you could get a point across, especially around Cady. Otherwise her dumbness wouldn't be able to process anything.

"Ohmigosh!" she shrieked. "That is so cool!" That wasn't the reaction I was looking for, especially because she knew that Dylan and Deeds were dating and she'd just dumped Jordan.

I remembered how she'd gone all rigid when I joked about Dylan loving me. Maybe, just maybe she'd actually crushed on Dylan a bit. Even if she'd been dating other guys. I think she just dated for kicks, and secretly did it to get Dylan's attention by acting all coy. She sickened me.

"Uh, no it's not," I informed her, my repugnance obvious. "Dylan was dating Deeds."

"So they broke up, then!" she exclaimed, not bothering to hide her excitement.

"All thanks to you!" I yelled back, matching her high pitch evenly.

"Why aren't you happy for me?" she pouted.

"Maybe because Deeds is one of my best friends?" I asked rhetorically.

"You didn't take any of my advice, did you?" she rolled her eyes, remembering our previous banter. "Anyway, I've had this humongous crush on Dylan ever since I moved here and I can finally have him!" she squealed like a three year old who'd just met all the Disney Princesses.

"Yeah, but you caused a major breakup and you're not even feeling the slightest bit bad!" I countered. How could she be so self-centered? Poor Deeds was crushed to bits and here Cady was, celebrating.
"Oh and I hate to burst your bubble, but Dylan is done with committed relationships. The kiss you guys shared was nothing in his eyes."

Her face immediately fell, but then brightened again. "Oh well, I had to start somewhere. So is this some sort of fling, now?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Oh my gods Cady, that is so cheap!" I hissed, revolted. She shrugged. Our friendship was a really weird and awkward affinity.

"Thanks, Day! I'll catch up with you later!" she pranced away, ignoring my statement and leaving me shocked and sickened.

"So those are the kind of friends you have?" asked Dad, sighing after he'd slammed the door when she'd stepped out. "I'd honestly hoped for better."

"No, she's not a friend of mine," I assured him, but he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah right," he muttered. So was this the typical aftermath of a college party? Angry parents, hangovers and major breakups? Parties were way too overrated and totally not worth it.

It would have been better if they'd screamed at me and grounded me for a month. This was the worst feeling ever. It was worse than being locked up in the tallest tower in a secluded forest.
It was the feeling of being given up on, and I needed to change that before it was too late.

A/N:

Hey guys! Sorry for the late update...

PIC OF CADY HUNT

Thank you guys so much for giving me 2K, and my new readers have been extremely supportive. Because I haven't updated in soooooooooooooo long, I'm going to update 2 chapters (yes, there is one right after this, you're welcome) so you aren't hanging in suspense. 

THANK YOU!!

Teaser: So how do you think Day's going to make sure she becomes a golden girl? Will she involve Max in it... (YES SHE WILL)?

Song of the day: Zero by Chris Brown

Best comment gets a dedication <3

Love you all,

~Lexi